8 Months!

As I say every month... "where has the time gone!?".




He's still growing, maturing and become an individual. He's getting attitude! His cries have become more like a whine. He very rarely cries, but when he does, it's more of a "whaaaa... give me what I want". I find myself saying "sir! please! enough of the attitude!"How much of what I say he understands... I'm not sure. But he seems to understand the context.

One thing I'm pretty sure he 'gets' is the word "no". I think he is beginning to understand that "jude" is not just a word in the English language, but that it's something we say when we want his attention. When I say "no" while he's going after something he'll turn and smile. Like he knows he's up to no good. Occasionally he'll redirect himself... other times I'll have to go after him.

I wish I could say that after 8 months he's still an amazing sleeper... but I can't. Since about a month and a half ago, sleep has been on and off. He's spending more and more nights in our bed and having more and more late night feedings. He doesn't wake up crying, he doesn't stay up for hours on end, but he wakes up. He fidgets, he moves, he whines, he nurses. I think I'll attribute this to teething. he just seems... restless. Uncomfortable... not 100% in the zone.

One thing that he does still have after 8 months is his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that just melt me. His blue eyes with his perfectly shaped pouty lips and jowly cheeks (and occasional double chin) are just enough to let him get away with anything.





Then there's his adorably naked bottom. He's got to have the most perfect little shape in the world.

And teeth... he has two of them. While they are adorable and cute just poking their little tooth heads up from under his gums... I miss the gummy smile. I think the top teeth that could be here any day now will be harder for me.

And while we're talking about his mouth. He eats. He eats all on his own. Pretty much the only thing we feed him ourselves is some unsweetened applesauce. Everything else he takes care of himself. He has moods about food. Sometimes he love bananas. Other times he'll make it clear that bananas three days in a row is just too much (no matter how much I want him to eat them before they go bad). He eats a lot of fruit. He seems to like broccoli. A recent favorite is cantaloupe. We're expanding to new fruits too... blueberries, peaches, etc. He eats breads, whole wheat, things like that. Veggies. He likes spinach, broccoli is always a fall back. he loves sweet potatoes, will suck on carrots, peas and pretty much sample anything else we put in front of him. He likes spices. We add a dash of cinnamon to just about anything it goes with and he just swallows it up.













I love that we pretty much bounced right over most purees. At first I was worried he would never consume much of anything on his own, but the past couple of weeks he's really gotten the hang of it. He eats twice a day. Usually when I'm eating lunch and during dinner. If I know we'll be eating while we're out, I'll take a piece of fruit for Jude. If he's hungry, he eats. If not, he doesn't. If I forgot his food, we'll order some steamed broccoli.

I'm loving this age. He's playful, fun, and getting around. This past month he's perfected sitting. He's been sitting up for awhile - but this past month he's become a sitting pro.








He plays. and boy does he play! He loves his new toys. He doesn't quite play with them the way they were intended, but he plays. He picks them up, he crawls on/around them. He bangs them, throws them, chews on them.





He's trying to stand. He doesn't quite get it, but he wants to. Sometimes he'll start an angry grunt whine while he's trying to stand... that's code for "come help". I'll prop him up and he'll be fine. All he wanted was to stand. He realizes there are things above his head that are there for the taking and he wants them.



In conclusion... he's amazing. I am truly loving every thing about him. The good, the bad and the every day. I dread the day I may eventually go back to work and wish I could bottle me up a good bit of 8 month old Jude and open it up when he's 15 and talking back.